Prima Nocta
by Ironsides
Summary: A FAN SPECIAL REQUEST: Twenty-four years before the events of "The Hunted," the story of Katniss and Peeta's first night together as husband and wife from Peeta's POV. ONE SHOT


A soft snow has begun to fall outside of the window. The flakes gently appear from out of the darkness and brush against the glass, carried by the whispering breeze. It is a wonderful contrast to the soft crackle of the logs on the bedroom hearth.

My heart is pounding as I lie on top of the thick down comforter, waiting for her…_my wife. _God, it sounds so strange even now. I've spent countless nights with my arms wrapped around Katniss in this very bed since our return to District 12 over a year ago, but never like this. This will be the first time…_for both of us._

My mind drifts back to this afternoon…It was definitely not the wedding Panem wanted for us, but it was the wedding that both of us dreamed of: no cameras, no flashy sets or props, no screaming mobs of adoring fans and sponsors, just a small group of close friends from home…

Greasy Sae, Delly Cartwright, and about a half dozen others are crammed into the kitchen of the house Katniss and I now share in Victor's Village. One could almost feel like we were back, before the Rebellion, before the Games, before everything changed us from the simple country people we were: _happy at simply being alive._

Just as the soft winter sun starts to weaken and dip below the horizon, the roaring fire I built this morning burns down to a pile of warm, glowing embers.

"_Perfect,"_ I think as I adjust the collar of my suit, and straighten my tie.

"Oh stop messing with yourself, boy," Greasy Sae says batting my hands back down to my sides. "I've never seen so much fuss over a toasting in my life!"

"This one's been a long time coming," I say as a smile creeps across my face.

"Well, let's get to it, then!" Greasy Sae says motioning to Delly standing next to the door. Slowly, she opens it and in walks Haymitch, dressed in a matching suit to mine, and on his arm is the most beautiful sight I've ever seen in my life. For the ten seconds it takes him to walk Katniss to me, I actually forget how to breathe.

She's not dressed in one of the gaudy, Capitol favored creations that everyone in Panem was dying to see her in at our wedding. No, instead she wears a simple, white silk dress that hugs her body and glistens in the firelight like it was alive. A masterful, creation of Cinna's hands that was his posthumous wedding present to us. I can almost hear his voice in my ear describing how he created it specifically for an event like this:

"_What makes it truly beautiful, is not what you see, but what you don't see…Just like Katniss herself."_

Haymitch finally reaches the hearth and places Katniss' trembling hand into mind. Her long, dark hair is held up by a twig of wild mistletoe, it's white berries perfectly matching the soft creamy color of her gown.

"She's all yours now," he says with a soft smile as he looks into my face. I look back at him and say something I've wanted to for almost three years…

"Thank you, for keeping her safe for me." He doesn't say a word, instead he just leans forward and wraps his giant arms around me. I'm immediately taken aback by one simple fact: _I don't smell even the slightest hint of alcohol._ When he finally lets me go, I look over to Katniss, completely bewildered.

"The way you can tell he really cares," Katniss says with the hint of a mischievous smile as the candlelight dances off her eyes, "is that he hasn't had a drink all day."

"Something I intend to remedy very shortly…," he says to me with a wink, "but for the right reasons…" The three of us break out into laughter.

Then, suddenly,_ it's time._ I reach into my pocket and pull out a small, white roll. I've made thousands like them before, but this one was special. I spent hours kneading the dough, watching it rise, and then molding it with my own two hands until it was perfect. Then I placed it in my oven to bake, watching every second as it slowly turned from soft dough to hearty bread. It was almost a metaphor for everything that's happened since that Reaping Day. You take something with potential, then through enough patience, work, and scalding fire, turn it into something with substance. Fitting then, that the entire time, I was dreaming of Katniss and me, together, at this very moment…

Now, as I present it to her, her eyes begin to fill with tears. However, I immediately notice they're like no other tears I've ever seen from her. Since our first games together, I've seen her cry hundreds of times. All of it from sorrow, loss, pain, or fear, but this may be the first time I've ever seen her cry out of pure joy, and it moves me to tears myself.

We just stand there, gazing at each other, preparing to start a new life together. It may be the first perfect moment I've ever had in my whole life, and as much as I want to live in it forever, we have to move on. Haymitch pulls something from behind his back and hands it to Katniss…_.it's an arrow. _Without hesitation, she suddenly skewers the roll straight through the middle and the entire room chuckles. Then, our fingers gently interlock and we slowly extend the roll over the burning coals of the fireplace.

For a few minutes, we silently watch the outside of the bread go crisp and turn to a deep, mellow brown. Then, as if by magic, we both know it's ready. We gently pull the roll from the hearth, and I gently kiss it to her lips. She takes a small bite, before pushing the arrow back to me. I lean forward and bite into the warm crust.

Then, we just stand there frozen in time, afraid to move an inch because something might spoil it. Time passes, but neither of us are aware of it. Instead, we just keep gazing into each other's eyes as a feeling of warmth neither of us has ever experienced wraps around us.

Finally, it's Haymitch, our old and crusty mentor, who brings us back.

"I'll take that," he says prying the arrow out of our locked hands. "I swear, I don't think you two would be able to tie your own shoes, if it wasn't for me." The entire room bursts into laughter again and the celebration begins…

Now, the party is over and all the guests are gone. It's just me and Katniss, alone on this cold winter's night. I roll away from the window and towards the sealed door of the bathroom. She stepped in there almost half an hour ago to get ready. I have no idea what to expect when she finally steps out, and it excites and petrifies me at the same time…

All the memories come flooding back. I see her as a little girl, standing tall and proud in our music class, belting out the Valley Song so beautifully it made the whole of District 12 stop and listen. I see her as the starving, terrified eleven-year old who I threw the bread to seven years ago. I see her shocked expression as I confessed my love for her in front of millions, her smiling face in the cave as she told me about Prim's goat while nursing me back from the brink of death. I see her, eyes twinkling in the starlight as we kissed on the sand of the beach during the Quarter Quell, and then…my stomach cringes as I remember the feeling of my hands closing around her throat in the hospital of District 13…

"_No,"_ I think reflexively as I shove that memory back down inside. I realize that she must remember that as well, but she knows that wasn't the real me. That Peeta was a twisted creation of Capitol scientists. She saw past that monster_…and still loves me anyway. _Then, something happens I never expected. Another memory surfaces, one that lifts my spirits and reminds me why I love the woman who is now my wife with every fiber of my soul.

I hear the doorknob turning and jump as I look over to the far side of the room. The door slowly opens, and there she is. She silently stands there, gazing at me. She wears only a long, green silk robe. Her flowing, dark hair falls loosely over her shoulders and down her back.

Slowly, she steps towards me on bare feet. I'm shivering now, but it's not from the cold of the quiet snow falling outside. My breath quickens as emotions rush through me faster than I can feel them. She reaches the edge of the bed, and moves her hand to the knot at her waist.

"Are you ready?" she says a little nervously.

"Wait," I say before my brain can stop me. "I have to tell you something first…"

"What?" she asked confused and intrigued at the same time.

"When, I was recovering from the hijacking in the hospital in 13…"

"Peeta…" she says trying to stop me.

"No, I have to say this!" my forwardness stops her. "Do you know what the first real memory I had of you was?"

"You told me," she says grinning a bit. "You said you remembered us in the rain with the bread."

"Yes," I say pensively. "But that wasn't the first real memory…I was lying there in that bed, strapped down and sedated…it was like being trapped deep underground. I was sealed in darkness, totally consumed by anger, hate, and fear. It was like…It was like…" I see the pain in her eyes. Part of me is screaming to stop, but my heart just keeps yelling for me to get this out.

"It was like being buried alive and having no idea how to escape."

"Peeta, you don't have to tell me this…"

"Yes, I do, Katniss," I say with a calm and clarity that seems to set her a bit more at ease. "My first memory of you…_was those_," I say gently reaching up and placing my hand on her soft face. Gently, I brush a strand of hair away from her eyes. "Suddenly, out of the darkness, I saw your eyes, shining towards me. I didn't know what they were at first, but something deep inside told me to go towards them. They were like a pair of beautiful lanterns, guiding me back to the surface.

I followed them, and then found myself behind the bakery in the rain. Laying there on the ground, was a young girl, starving and alone. She didn't have any emotion on her face, but I could tell she didn't want pity, or remorse…but then there were those beautiful eyes. I didn't know who you were, but something inside told me that I had to do something.

There was a loaf in my hands. It was burned, but still warm from the oven. I tossed it to that girl because her eyes begged me to…"

Katniss is crying now. I just pray they are still tears of joy.

"That night in the hospital…was the night that Peeta…_the real Peeta_...fell in love with Katniss Everdeen all over again, and he promises that he will spend every second of the rest of his life falling in love with her over and over just like it was the first time."

Katniss takes a step away, pushes her shoulders back, and then wipes the tears from her eyes. Inside, I'm panicking because I think I've ruined things with her. That our first night as husband and wife will be spent with her sobbing in a separate room. I want to jump to my feet and beg her forgiveness, but before I can even move, she yanks the knot at her waist free and lets the soft silk robe fall down to her ankles. The warm, orange glow of the firelight sparkles off her naked body, and for the second time today, I forget how to breathe…

"Peeta," she says my name so beautifully that I almost don't believe it's mine. "I want to feel you tonight. I want to feel you like I've never felt you before…"

Normally, I pride myself on having the right thing to say, but somehow only silence seems appropriate. Katniss joins me in bed, and starts to pull my shirt over my head…

Sunlight streams in from the window. The fire in the hearth has long since burned down to a few smoking coals. I open my eyes and see Katniss' beautiful hair in my face. We lie under the thick comforter together. The warmth of her bare skin on mine is intoxicating.

Slowly, I start to run the tips of my fingers from the nape of her neck down to the base of her spine. I feel her tremble under my gentle touch, and she lets it continue uninterrupted for what seems like glorious hours.

"Good morning, Mrs. Mellark," I finally whisper into her ear. Katniss rolls over and gazes right into my face.

"Good morning," she whispers back to me with a look of sheer bliss that turns into what becomes the _second_ of many perfect moments of my life with her. There, burning into me are the gorgeous Seam grey eyes that look just like a cloudy sky after a spring rain. They're the same eyes that brought me back to life.


End file.
